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Ah… the bachelor party. The “last night of freedom” is a well-established rite of passage for dudes trading singledom for the restrictive bonds of marriage, and has long been fodder for the movies.

In the 1980s, Tom Hanks was the groom-to-be in Bachelor Party. In the ’90s, Jon Favreau, Christian Slater and Cameron Diaz turned in a decidedly darker take with Very Bad Things. This summer, Hollywood grants us The Hangover, and it turns out to be a clever take on a very clichéd subject.

The Hangover stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis as three friends who manage to lose their groom-to-be (Justin Bartha) during a long night of debauchery in Las Vegas. The twist to The Hangover is that the movie takes place the day after the party, and no one can quite remember what the hell happened. The evidence is everywhere: The hotel suite is heroically trashed (chickens roam freely through mountains of trash and a hungry tiger lurks in the bathroom), Ed Helms’ character is missing a front tooth, and when they boys turn in their parking stub the valet brings around a stolen cop car. The gang must retrace their steps, find the groom and get him back to L.A. before the wedding starts — in about 24 hours.

If it all sounds rote, it is, but the movie works surprisingly well anyway. Credit director Todd Phillips and the clever plot device of having the main event in the film (the party itself) happen off-screen. Phillips is the director behind Old School, Road Trip and the excellent Phish documentary Bittersweet Motel, all three variations on modern male coming-of-age stories. The Hangover isn’t quite as good as those earlier films (the plot goes off the rails by the third act), but it’s still a very funny movie and excellent counter-programming in a summer thus-far dominated by big action movies and kid flicks.

The Hangover is rated R and opens June 5 at area theaters.

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